WALTON, KY (FOX19) – The mayor of Walton, Ky. is offering a reward for information after someone destroyed the community fountain, putting the city out thousands of dollars.

The fountain sits by Walton's City Hall on Main Street where it's been part of the landscape for about a decade. The area is normally a place of beauty and solitude, but now, per the mayor, it's part of a Boone County Sheriff's Office investigation.

"It's been concluded that it was in fact vandalism," said Mayor Gabriel Brown.

A local business owner and a city employee noticed a change in the fountain's appearance this past week. The three-tiered fountain had been shattered into pieces. Initially, old age or weather was the suspected culprit, until the mayor says they noticed bricks and rocks in the grass nearby and confirmed someone had vandalized it.

"Other than the actual tub that the fountain sits in, the rest of the fountain is completely destroyed," Brown said. "I anticipate it's $2,000 to $3,000 worth of damage."

The mayor said it's not the first time this has happened. Someone ruined benches at the park recently, prompting new surveillance cameras there. There are talks of doing that at city hall now, too. Officials are in the process of meeting with security companies.

In the meantime, Brown is offering a $500 reward for information on the crime. He said the vandalism will not be tolerated.

"It's just stupid if you ask me. I just don't understand it, why people just want to break things just to be breaking them," said resident Vic Marqua.

City leaders are now considering whether they should repair the fountain or replace it, while investigators continue their search for a suspect.

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